te direction hinders the flow of the waters; and
the waves of the sea, dashing against the mouth of the river, and coming
on with a fair wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in
this manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras, the
natural philosopher, says that the fullness of the Nile arises from the
snow melting; and so too says Euripides, and some others of the tragic
poets. Anaxagoras says this is the sole origin of all that fullness; but
Euripides goes further and describes the exact place where this melting
of the snow takes place.

HOW TO PRESERVE THE HEALTH

From the 'Deipnosophistae'

One ought to avoid thick perfumes, and to drink water that is thin and
clear, and that in respect of weight is light, and that has no earthy
particles in it. And that water is best which is of moderate heat or
coldness, and which, when poured into a brazen or silver vessel, does
not produce a blackish sediment. Hippocrates says, "Water which is
easily warmed or easily chilled is alway lighter." But that water is bad
which takes a long time to boil vegetables; and so too is water full of
nitre, or brackish. And in his book 'On Waters,' Hippocrates calls good
water drinkable; but stagnant water he calls bad, such as that from
ponds or marshes. And most spring-water is rather hard.

Erasistratus says that some people test water by weight, and that is a
most stupid proceeding. "For just look," says he, "if men compare the
water from the fountain Amphiaraus with that from the Eretrian spring,
though one of them is good and the other bad, there is absolutely no
difference in their respective weights." And Hippocrates, in his book
'On Places,' says that those waters are the best which flow from high
ground, and from dry hills, "for they are white and sweet, and are able
to bear very little wine, and are warm in winter and cold in summer."
And he praises those most, the springs of which break toward the east,
and especially toward the northeast, for they must be inevitably clear
and fragrant and light. Diocles says that water is good for the
digestion and not apt to cause flatulency, that it is moderately
cooling, and good for the eyes, and that it has no tendency to make the
head feel heavy, and that it adds vigor to the mind and body. And
Praxagoras says the same; and he also praises rain-water. But Euenor
praises water from cisterns, and says that the best is that from the
cistern of Amphiaraus, wh